Twins, income, and happiness: Evidence from China

Ye，Maoliang1; Zhang，Junsen2; Li，Hongbin3

2023-06-20

10.1073/pnas.2221884120

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America   Impact Factor & Quartile

0027-8424

1091-6490

We estimate the causal effect of income on happiness using a unique dataset of Chinese twins. This allows us to address omitted variable bias and measurement errors. Our findings show that individual income has a large positive effect on happiness, with a doubling of income resulting in an increase of 0.26 scales or 0.37 SDs in the four-scale happiness measure. We also find that income matters most for males and the middle-aged. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for various biases when studying the relationship between socioeconomic status and subjective well-being.

fixed effects happiness Income instrumental variables twins

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers

First

Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province[2022A1515011965];National Natural Science Foundation of China[72073057];

Science & Technology - Other Topics

Multidisciplinary Sciences

WOS:001038062000005

NATL ACAD SCIENCES

BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY;CLINICAL MEDICINE;MULTIDISCIPLINARY;PLANT & ANIMAL SCIENCE;ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY;SOCIAL SCIENCES, GENERAL;MICROBIOLOGY;ECONOMICS BUSINESS;IMMUNOLOGY;MATERIALS SCIENCE;MATHEMATICS;SPACE SCIENCE;MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS;PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY;CHEMISTRY;PSYCHIATRY/PSYCHOLOGY;NEUROSCIENCE & BEHAVIOR;PHYSICS;GEOSCIENCES;AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES;ENGINEERING

2-s2.0-85163149223

Scopus

1.School of Business,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
2.School of Economics,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou,310058,China
3.Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions,Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies,Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research,Stanford University,94305,United States

Ye，Maoliang,Zhang，Junsen,Li，Hongbin. Twins, income, and happiness: Evidence from China[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,2023,120(25).

Ye，Maoliang,Zhang，Junsen,&Li，Hongbin.(2023).Twins, income, and happiness: Evidence from China.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,120(25).

Ye，Maoliang,et al."Twins, income, and happiness: Evidence from China".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120.25(2023).